The issue with letting the community have a free for all to come decide what a 13 year old should be reading is that these are the people who show up to such meetings of the mind. Pic from the article, which some of you haven’t read. I don’t think busybody boomers on a (usually faith based) moral purity mission should be the ones curating the selection in a public library, period.

I worked at Barnes and Noble before the 4th book came out and it was such a fun time. We did readings and the kids were just out of their minds over Harry Potter, even correcting us when we mispronounced words or names. E.g. it’s how I learned how to say Hermione. “It’s HER-MY-OH-KNEE!” out of the mouth of babes.